In modern warfare the one with the best air support is the one with a major advantage of being able to win the war. I remember on January 17th, 1991 Torri and I had just come home from a church service. We had a friend over for snacks and when we turned the TV on we heard the news. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful proposal to provoke an Israeli retaliation. That morning America began an air strike attack on Iraq. Desert Storm was initialized and we had gone to war. Our first strike started when we began bombing the Iraqi Air Force headquarters, air defense, electric distribution facilities, electrical and leadership nodes. Other targets that were focused on were the airfields, the port facilities, and air defense radars. What we had done was cut off their leaders from their military, their air defense, their communications and most of all their ability to strike back. After 10 brutal days of air strikes CINCCENT declares air supremacy.
In the battle that we face every day we also need to have air supremacy in order for us to win. I will cover this more in chapter __ but for now I want to give you a quick overview of how we are to gain this advantage. The way to achieve air supremacy is through the Weapon of Prayer. I don’t mean a quick prayer like “Oh Lord, if you get me out of this mess I’ll start going to church!” I mean really getting connected with God and allowing your prayers to effect your daily life. When there are problems and issues that you begin to face do you just wing-it or do you attack them by faith in prayer? If you want to win not only the battles in your life but to even get into a place of winning the majors wars that we have; we must start bombarding it with prayers that will accomplish much (James 5:16).
Overcoming Bad Habits
There are many different disciplines that we as Christians need to develop in our walk with the Lord. Struggles that many of us face are the bad habits that we have learned before we came to faith in Jesus. These habits are some of the foundational struggles that many Christians face today. You and I have the ability to overcome these struggles and discover new ways to create beneficial habits that will enhance our Christian walk.
Overcoming bad habits isn’t really that hard if you put your mind to it. This is where most people fail. They really don’t want to change their habit. Making a good decision to change is half the battle. When I really finally decided to lose weight I had to change my whole thought process on what I had to do. I began making good decisions that affected the results of my goal. Due to having a job in the workforce I had made years of bad eating choices. Those poor choices caused me to become overweight. Years of eating fast food, not being physically active and sitting behind a desk 10 hours a day (sometimes more) made me feel tired. When I got home the last thing I wanted to do was lift weights or go running. So what I did was a lot like every other person has done in their life; I sat down and watched TV.
In order for me to change this habit I had to change my thinking. One of the first steps you must take to overcome bad habits is to correct your thinking. Ask yourself some questions like these.
Do I really enjoy doing what I am doing?
Is this helping me fulfill the plan of God in my life?
What does the bible have to say about this habit that I do?
Will this habit bring glory to God?
If other Christians see me doing this will it encourage them or cause them to stumble?
Your mind is a powerful weapon that God has given each of us to use. If we will train it to think like Jesus thinks then our battles will be less and less and our victories will become more and more. You see, we must fight our battles in our heads. We have got to know that no matter what, we are the winner. You must know that you can overcome, that you are able to do what is needed to win.
Before I began losing weight I begun telling myself things like “I love to exercise” and “I love eating healthy” and my most favorite was “You look marvelous!” Now did I believe any of that, NO! Well, not at first, but in a short amount of time I started to believe it. I got up many mornings saying I was going to the gym but didn’t go. I went to different restaurants saying I’m going to eat healthy and didn’t. But over time the things I was saying was beginning to take effect.
One morning I got up and decided to get on the treadmill; and I did! I even turned it on and began walking. I began walking every morning as part of my regular routine for the day. I enjoy walking and for some reason if I miss a day then I would miss not walking. I don’t feel complete if I don’t walk. The same thing happened with my eating. When Torri and I would go out to eat I looked and order healthier meals. I rarely go to a fast food joint and eat things that aren’t helping me reach my weight goal.
You see, I didn’t start my battle by doing it because I wasn’t prepared to do it. I had to learn to re-think what I needed to do. I had to train my mind into believing this is what needs to be done. Once my mind was in-line with what needed to happen in my life I was able to perform the necessary tasked to accomplish my goal. If you want to win your battles then begin training your mind by speaking what you should be doing. Say to yourself “I can” and “I am” and don’t allow your old life patterns to stop you from creating new habits.
Another step in overcoming bad habits is to get some support. When I began to lose my weight I had asked several people to help me by getting on my case. At first I wasn’t exercising or eating right. When my friends heard or saw me doing what I shouldn’t be doing they were kind enough to yell at me. But one thing they didn’t do was judge me. They knew I struggled with my weight so they just loved me and encourage me. When they began to see the difference in my physical being they shared in my excitement as well. Their words continue to give me confidence that what I was doing was right. They could see the difference it was making in my life.
Look and find someone that will encourage and support you. Having someone that will tell you the truth and to keep you focus is a major help in winning any battle. Remember, we aren’t in this war alone. We have the Holy Spirit that lives within us and He is there all the time. But even beyond that, God has given us friends that will walk though the battle with us. They may have already been through something similar and can give you advice. Maybe they haven’t and will learn some Do’s and Don’ts also. No matter what, we need to have people around us that will cheer you on.